Sorry for Your Trouble: Stories

Hes a fine writer to be sure, but this is not his best work. Melancholy stories, many about breakups, and very little drama. If youre a Ford fan, its worth a read but if your not, there are better of his to read. Canada, for example or any of the Bascomb series-read them in order.

SORRY FOR YOUR TROUBLE is an aptly named collection, since characters in eight of its nine stories are afflicted with trouble. In fact, the only story in this collection in which a leading character or protagonist avoids trouble is the first, where a married middle-aged lawyer explores a possible restart of a college-era romance. But there is, he learns, Nothing to Declare and he returns without meaningful incident to his spouse and life. But otherwise, these stories feature: o An older woman, who carries the moniker Happy, rankling old friends as she tries to manage the recent sudden death of her spouse. o A lonely teenage boy whose family is in a downward financial spiral due to the recent death of his breadwinner father. In Displaced, this boy is the subject of a sexual pass at a drive-in that he lacks the experience to comprehend. o A middle-aged lawyer, harassed by a busybody, is managing the final administrative details of his divorce, as he is Crossing to Dublin on a ferry. o A middle-aged lawyer whose cancer-stricken wife recently committed suicide. In The Run of Yourself, this lawyerlayered, misunderstood, an elegant thinker, and a classic Richard Ford tropefinds a new entrance to life, which is certainly headed for disaster. o A divorced middle-aged lawyer named Jimmy Green is the innocent victim of political rage at a bar in Paris as returns for the 1992 American presidential elections take shape. o A divorced middle-aged lawyer tries to behave magnanimously as he drives his bratty daughter to a final meeting with a friend, whose family is Leaving for Kenosha. o A middle-aged woman with a dull life has a long-running affair with the husband of her college roommate. This time, their assignation occurs on A Free Day. o A rich fiftyish widower who was devoted to his wife remarries. The new wife, a real estate agent at Sothebys, is irresistible and totally self-absorbed and is uninterested in building a deep relationship. In Second Language, his second marriage ends in its second year. Needless to say, SORRY has melancholy content although it is not a melancholy collection. Yes, the stories explore the aftermath of four sudden deaths and four divorces. And the collection teems with lawyers. But Ford is an extremely accomplished stylist and this enables him to explore these fraught lives with dispassionate elegance. And his characters persevere, quietly, despite their troubles. BTW, The Run of Yourself and Second Language are outstanding stories, especially for readers who like their narratives served subtly. Rounded up and recommended.

You\’ll love this collection. RIchard Ford effectively engages you in the emotional complexities and subtleties that change the direction of one\’s life at seemingly insignificant moments in a person\’s life. He draws the reader into an intimate co-relationship with his narrators, so that you viscerally experience these life changing, yet subtle moments in his characters\’ lives. Each short story immerses the reader with a spare economy of text that demonstrates this writer\’s brilliance and extraordinary gifts. The short stories are varied in setting and highly differentiated in character, yet they are all wonderfully engaging and transporting for a mature reader\’s pleasure.

These stories resonate as fresh yet familiar at the same time. Ford\’s voice we seem to always have known, still it surprises and excites us anew. You feel the energy of his effort, but there is ultimately always such ease in his stride. Confident stuff.

I was provoked by reviews. The short stories emphasize locale, personality, slow development of character. Very slow development. The strong writing saves the reader from boredom. I actually engaged in the mind and personality of the characters. Actually, very very little happens. And that\’s what the writer wants. Dig in, read it all, participate, enjoy!

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